FRISCO — Get up early, grab the camera, load up the dogs … sounds routine, doesn’t it? But the reality is, you never know what you’re going to find. Like Sunday, when I waited and waited, watching the clouds, but unsure if the sunrise was really going to light up the sky. By the time I started along the Dam Road I could see that the sky would be dramatic, not with pinks and oranges, but with light and shadow, which can really help give pictures some depth. And I threw the sculling shot into the mix just because I love the color and the composition! Please have a look at our online Fine Art America gallery for more great Rocky Mountain nature and landscape image. Continue reading “Morning photo: Rocky Mountain love …”→

The grant proposal includes examples of how the funding would be used.

Local stakeholders support idea of summer motorized trail crew

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — The Forest Service’s Dillon Ranger District is applying for a $96,000 state trails grant partly to patrol and maintain a trail system on Tenderfoot Mountain that hasn’t been approved or built yet.

An off-highway vehicle subcommittee heard the grant request earlier this month in the first step of a three-stage approval process.

Meanwhile, Forest Service rangers are asking the community to give the project a chance, claiming that motorized users will police themselves to make sure that impacts don’t spread beyond the trail system that would span about 1,800 acres on the hillsides above Highway 6 between Dillon and Summit Cove.

SUMMIT COUNTY — The Forest Service has released a scaled-back version of a controversial plan for a new motorized trail system on Tenderfoot Mountain. Under the proposed plan, about 13 miles of new trails on a project area spanning about 1,800 acres already laced by a spaghetti network of roads and trails, including many renegade user-created trails.

In all, the system would encompass about 27 miles of trails (21 miles of single-track). About eight miles existing routes would be rehabilitated, while some other unsustainable routes would be decommissioned. According to the Forest Service, the net result is a multi-use trail system “that would be managed for non-motorized uses (hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding) as well as for single-track motorcycle use.” Continue reading “Summit County:Forest Service releases Tenderfoot trail plan”→

Bright sun on the aspens, dark clouds over the Tenmile Range, less than a minute before the sun dropped behind Buffalo Mountain. iPhone shot.

SUMMIT COUNTY — A short jaunt to try and take pictures of the full moon rising a couple of nights ago ended up as a bit of a wild goose chase. For one, I was in the wrong spot, secondly, clouds obscured the lower horizon, and third, when the moon finally did pop up, my dog decided to chase the scent of some wild critter on Tenderfoot Mountain, so I had to find him a reign him in before continuing with the photo session. But the evening did yield a few nice Summit County overview panoramas, and I got to say hello to an old friend, a magnificent Douglas fir growing not far from the trail. My son, now 14, has been climbing this tree ever since he was five years old, and it’s always fun to visit this spot. Continue reading “Morning photo: Evening on Tenderfoot Mountain”→